Hockey goalies and all baseball and softball players, among other sports participants, use catch gloves to catch hard objects moving at high speeds. The interior of a conventional catch glove typically consists of finger stalls to contain the wearer's fingers, a thumb stall to contain the wearer's thumb, and straps for the wearer's smallest finger and thumb to provide added control over the glove. These finger and thumb stalls and straps are typically made of leather, synthetic leather, or another flexible material that resists substantial elastic stretching. Because these materials resist stretching, the finger stalls and thumb stall of conventional catch gloves fit somewhat loosely around the fingers and thumb.
Additionally, the proximal portion of the hand from the wrist to a line joining approximately the mid-points of the proximal phalanges of the fingers is not immediately covered by any material. Thus, the palm of the wearer's hand is not kept in close contact with the glove. The relatively loose fitting finger and thumb stalls and exposed portion of the hand are employed in conventional catch gloves to allow the glove to close without binding on the wearer's hand. However, the loose fitting finger and thumb stalls and exposed portion of the hand reduce the wearer's control over the glove.
In an attempt to couple the wearer's hand more closely to the glove and increase the wearer's control over the glove, some manufacturers construct gloves with tighter fitting finger and thumb stalls. However, closing the glove causes these tighter fitting stalls to flatten against the wearer's fingers and thumb and bind on the wearer's fingers and thumb. This flattening and binding prevents the wearer from closing the glove easily. Thus, the wearer's control over a glove with these tighter-fitting finger and thumb stalls is actually reduced over a conventional glove with more loosely fitting finger and thumb stalls.
The external surfaces of a conventional catch glove are most often flexible materials similar to those used in the interior including leather, synthetic leather, and nylon, all of which also resist substantial elastic stretching. To increase the stiffness of the distal finger portion of a conventional catch glove, a plastic stiffener is sometimes inserted into the interior of this finger portion. This stiffener is typically shaped approximately like a quarter of a circular disc with a single linear bend that is approximately perpendicular to the wearer's fingers when the glove is being worn. Even with this stiffener, the distal edge of a conventional catch glove is sometimes too flexible to enable the wearer to successfully catch a puck or ball that strikes the glove near its distal edge.